Faisalabad Test Start

Ganguly makes way for extra bowler

India captain Rahul Dravid justified the decision to drop predecessor Sourav Ganguly but rued missed chances as Pakistan began well in the second Test. The tourists brought in seamers Zaheer Khan and debutant Rudra Pratap Singh.

"It was tough to drop Ganguly but we played with the 11 we thought is the best combination," said Dravid. "We played with five bowlers because we thought it was our weak area but we lost the opportunity after restricting them to 216-4 at one stage."
Dravid said he believes the wicket in Faisalabad is better for batting than the one in Lahore, which yielded more than 1,000 runs last week.

Faisalabad Test First Day

Inzamam and Afridi make India suffer

Three wickets from India debutant Rudra Pratap Singh did little to disrupt Pakistan as the hosts reached 379 for four on the opening day of the second Test.
Singh, a shock inclusion at the expense of former captain Sourav Ganguly, enjoyed an excellent start to his Test career, taking the wickets of Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf to finish the day with figures of three for 77. However, he got little support from his team-mates as Inzamam-ul-Haq (79 not out) and Shahid Afridi (85no) moved Pakistan into a position of strength.
Malik and Salman Butt put on 49 for the first wicket after Pakistan captain Inzamam had won the toss and elected to bat first. Malik was first to fall when he was undone by a Singh short ball and was well caught by Rahul Dravid at slip. Pakistan soon lost their other opener when Butt was caught behind via an inside-edge off left-armer Zaheer Khan - in the side in place of Ajit Agarkar.

Faisalabad Test Second Day

India's sedate reply to Pakistan's massive total

Rahul Dravid and Venkatsai Laxman guided India to 110 for one after Shahid Afridi, with his highest test score, and Inzamam-ul-Haq hit centuries in a huge Pakistan total of 588 on day two of the second test on Sunday.
Afridi, 85 not out at start of play, was in savage mood and reached his hundred from just 96 balls with a massive six off Irfan Pathan to midwicket. He needed another 28 balls to cross the 150 mark, and hit 20 fours and six sixes. It was the second successive ton for Afridi, who made 103 in the drawn first test in Lahore from 80 balls.
Later the Indian second wicket pair put on an undefeated 71 from 157 balls after Virender Sehwag , who scored 254 in the first test in Lahore, was out for 31 caught by substitute Imran Farhat at first slip off Abdul Razzaq.

Faisalabad Test Third Day

Dhoni shines, again!!

Wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Dhoni smashed a blistering unbeaten maiden Test century yesterday to help India avoid the follow-on in the second cricket Test against Pakistan. As India finished the third day at 441 for five, Dhoni, 24, was batting on 116 off 133 balls. He hit 14 fours and three sixes in three hours.
The visitors trailed Pakistan by 147 runs after the home team posted a formidable first innings score of 588. Irfan Pathan ably supported Dhoni and was batting on 49, but got a lifeline in the last over when Pakistani wicketkeeper Karman Akmal failed to cling onto a catch.
Dhoni and Pathan shared an unbeaten 160-run Indian sixth wicket record against Pakistan, eclipsing former captains Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin's 143-run record at Calcutta in 1986-87 season. India were in danger of facing the follow-on after they lost four wickets in the second session and tottered to 281 for five.
Dravid (103) and VVS Laxman (90) departed in the space of five runs and fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar removed star batsman Sachin Tendulkar (14) off a fiery short delivery with the second new ball.

Faisalabad Test Fourth Day

Younis, Akmal prosper as test heads for draw

After conceding a slender first innings lead of 15 runs, Pakistan ended the fourth day 137 runs ahead of India.
After the swashbuckling Mahendra Singh Dhoni (148) and Irfan Pathan (90) had taken India past the follow-on threat, the tailenders did their bit to give the visitors a small lead before the innings folded up for a mammoth 603 about an hour after the lunch break. The hosts once again put up a solid batting display to race to 152 for one at close on the penultimate day with the in-form Younis Khan (64) and Kamran Akmal (59), who opened the innings in the absence of Shoiab Malik, at the crease on another frustrating day for the bowlers. Pakistan now have a lead of 137 runs and with the placid track at the Iqbal Stadium still not providing much assistance to the bowlers, a dreary draw appears to be the only result possible.
Resuming at the overnight score of 441 for five, Dhoni and Pathan kept tormenting Pakistan by scoring runs quite easily before Danish Kaneria brought an end to the record 210-run partnership by sending back Dhoni. Dhoni clobbered 19 boundaries and four sixes during his 153-ball knock while Pathan was unlucky to miss his maiden Test ton by ten runs but the duo showed remarkable temperament and character to bail the visitors out of a mid-innings wobble in the post-lunch session yesterday.

Faisalabad Test Fifth Day

New record set for sixes in a Test (27); else boring!!

India batted out the final few overs of the second test for a draw after bowling Pakistan out for 490 on Wednesday.
India, who made 603 in the first innings, were set a target of 476 after skittling Pakistan, who were reduced to nine batsmen in the absence of injured captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik, whose father died on Wednesday. Vangipurappu Laxman (8) and Rahul Dravid (5) safely saw the visitors through to the close of play accumulating 21 runs on the way.
Younis Khan (194) and Mohammad Yousuf (126) had added the 11th and 12th centuries of the series as Pakistan added another huge total to the 588 they made in their first innings. India fast bowler Zaheer Khan claimed four wickets in 10 deliveries on Wednesday before Pakistan's Younis Khan missed another double century in the drawn second Test. After batsmen dominated the first four days, Zaheer finally got some reward with the second new ball in the last session as Pakistan was bowled out for 490 - losing the last five wickets for just two runs.
Meanwhile, stung by severe criticism for tall scores in the first two drawn India-Pakistan Tests in Lahore and Faisalabad, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) blamed "rain, frost and absence of sunshine" while defending its curators. PCB also said that its endeavour was to produce "hard bouncy pitches" for the three Tests, the last of which starts at the National Stadium in Lahore on Sunday.

Faisalabad Test Scoreboard

Day Five

Pakistan 1st Innings 588 all out (136.2 overs)	Pakistan 2nd Innings 490 for 8 (116.4 overs)
India 1st Innings 603 all out (165.4 overs)	India 2nd Innings 21 for 0 (8.0 overs)

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Shoaib Malik	c R Dravid	b R P Singh	19	33	4	0
Salman Butt	c M S Dhoni	b Z Khan	37	57	7	0
Younis Khan	c Yuvraj Singh	b R P Singh	83	131	13	0
Mohammad Yousuf	c M S Dhoni	b R P Singh	65	119	8	1
Inzamam-ul-Haq	c M S Dhoni	b Z Khan	119	193	12	1
Shahid Afridi	c Yuvraj Singh	b A Kumble	156	128	20	6
Abdul Razzaq	c M S Dhoni	b R P Singh	37	90	5	0
Kamran Akmal	c V Sehwag	b A Kumble	0	2	0	0
Shoaib Akhtar	c Harbhajan Singh	b Z Khan	47	54	5	3
Mohammad Asif	not out		6	18	0	0
Danish Kaneria		b A Kumble	0	2	0	0
Extras		9nb 3w 3b 4lb	19
Total		all out	588

Bowler O M R W I K Pathan 19.0 4 106 0 R P Singh 25.0 3 89 4 Z Khan 32.0 7 135 3 Harbhajan Singh 25.0 1 101 0 A Kumble 35.2 5 150 3

Fall of wicket   49 Shoaib Malik 62 Salman Butt 207 Younis Khan 216 Mohammad Yousuf 467 Shahid Afridi 469 Kamran Akmal 509 Abdul Razzaq 567 Inzamam-ul-Haq 584 Shoaib Akhtar 588 Danish Kaneria

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
V Sehwag	c sub	b Abdul Razzaq	31	43	6	0
R Dravid	run out		103	220	16	0
V V S Laxman	c Kamran Akmal	b Danish Kaneria	90	208	11	0
S R Tendulkar	c Kamran Akmal	b Shoaib Akhtar	14	33	3	0
Yuvraj Singh	c Danish Kaneria	b Mohammad Asif	4	21	0	0
M S Dhoni	st Kamran Akmal	b Danish Kaneria	144	152	18	4
I K Pathan	lbw	b Abdul Razzaq	90	171	9	2
A Kumble	st Kamran Akmal	b Danish Kaneria	15	60	1	0
Harbhajan Singh	lbw	b Shahid Afridi	38	48	5	2
Z Khan	not out		20	32	2	1
R P Singh	c and b	Shahid Afridi	6	29	0	0
Extras		27nb 3w 3b 15lb	48
Total		all out	603

Bowler O M R W Shoaib Akhtar 25.0 7 100 1 Mohammad Asif 34.0 6 103 1 Abdul Razzaq 28.0 1 126 2 Danish Kaneria 54.0 6 165 3 Shahid Afridi 24.4 0 91 2

Fall of wicket   39 V Sehwag 236 V V S Laxman 241 R Dravid 258 Yuvraj Singh 281 S R Tendulkar 491 M S Dhoni 529 I K Pathan 553 A Kumble 587 Harbhajan Singh 603 R P Singh

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Salman Butt	c S R Tendulkar	b A Kumble	24	37	5	0
Kamran Akmal	c A Kumble	b I K Pathan	78	152	13	0
Younis Khan	lbw	b R P Singh	194	299	22	1
Mohammad Yousuf	run out		126	179	11	4
Abdul Razzaq	c V V S Laxman	b Z Khan	32	38	2	2
Shahid Afridi	c M S Dhoni	b Z Khan	1	4	0	0
Mohammad Asif		b Z Khan	0	1	0	0
Shoaib Akhtar	not out		0	0	0	0
Danish Kaneria		b Z Khan	0	3	0	0
Shoaib Malik			0	0	0	0
Inzamam-ul-Haq			0	0	0	0
Extras		13nb 3w 9b 10lb	35
Total		for 8	490

Bowler O M R W I K Pathan 22.0 2 80 1 R P Singh 22.0 3 75 1 A Kumble 21.0 3 118 1 Z Khan 19.4 4 61 4 Harbhajan Singh 22.0 2 78 0 Yuvraj Singh 9.0 0 46 0 M S Dhoni 1.0 0 13 0

Fall of wicket   52 Salman Butt 181 Kamran Akmal 423 Mohammad Yousuf 488 Abdul Razzaq 490 Shahid Afridi 490 Younis Khan 490 Mohammad Asif 490 Danish Kaneria

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
V V S Laxman	not out		8	19	1	0
R Dravid	not out		5	31	0	0
Extras		2nb 6w	8
Total		for 0	21

Bowler O M R W Shahid Afridi 4.0 0 16 0 Younis Khan 4.0 0 5 0

Fall of wicket

Umpires: R E Koertzen, S J A Taufel
Pakistan: Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria
India: V Sehwag, R Dravid, V V S Laxman, S R Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, M S Dhoni, I K Pathan, R P Singh, Harbhajan Singh, A Kumble, Z Khan

Indian Cricket Team for Faisalabad Test

V Sehwag, R Dravid, V V S Laxman, S R Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, M S Dhoni, I K Pathan, R P Singh, Harbhajan Singh, A Kumble, Z Khan

Pakistan Cricket Team for Faisalabad Test

Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria

The Venue

The Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad is situated in the northern province of Punjab and is a modern and well-equipped stadium. But no matter how impressive a venue is, not much can be done about the weather and Faisalabad has suffered at the hands of the elements. In 1998-99 fog caused the third Test against Zimbabwe was abandoned without a ball being bowled, while bad light is often an issue especially for matches played during the winter. However, when play has been possible, some memorable performances have taken place. An exciting Test was played out in 1997-98 when South Africa skittled Pakistan for 92, successfully defending a target of 142 on the final day. Then, in 2004-05, Sanath Jayasuriya smashed 253 as Sri Lanka powered to a 201-run victory. But the ground is most famous for the confrontation between Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana during England's 1987-88 tour, which led to a day being lost during the match and some long-lasting bad feeling between the teams. The stadium itself is only 2km out of the city centre, which can be reached by a walk through the tree-lined suburbs.